With a new movie to promote, Angelina Jolie took a rare in depth, on camera interview with "60 Minutes" this weekend and the results were mostly of the vague comment variety that celeb blogs love to speculate on about endlessly. We learn the startling revelation that Jolie was "chubby" as a kid (JUST LIKE REGULAR PEOPLE) and had "big lips." She also alluded to her earlier "heavy, darker times" without explaining any of it (not even that weird vial of blood she wore around her neck circa Billy Bob Thornton). Oh yeah, and she claims "I'm still a bad girl." Riveting. But amongst the mostly empty piece, the folks over at CBS did manage to get one interesting morsel of news out of their interview.
Of course, there is no direct quote, but they report that Jolie isn't done with controversial material just yet and is planning to write and direct a war movie set in Afghanistan. Of course, what that actually will entail remains to be seen. But the area and the people have been of particular importance for the actress and now, director. As the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, in 2001 she visited with Afghan refugees fleeing the conflict in the area in Pakistan. She visited Afghanistan in 2008 and this year as well, to keep up on progress in the nation. As anyone knows, humanitarian work has been as much a job as acting for Jolie and this new project seems to fit very comfortably in her wheelhouse.
But of course, any future directing gigs will likely depend on the success of "In The Land Of Blood & Honey." And while she is nervous "that people are going to not understand it" — with the story centering on the unlikely romance between a female Muslim prisoner and her Serb commandant — advance word has been very strong. She's well aware that the film will have limited commercial prospects, given its dark subject matter and particularly as it goes out to theaters in its original Bosnian/Serbian/Croation lanuage version, but being behind camera is a new world that appeals to her.
"I loved having the spotlight on somebody else. And I would much prefer it," she said. But like it or not, the spotlight is on her for now. "In The Land Of Blood & Honey" kicks off a qualifying run on December 23rd and will open wider in 2012. The full interview is below.
